


Mambo

by Camelabrakedabra



Series: Unfavourable Love [3]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, M/M, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2019-01-08 07:46:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12250059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Camelabrakedabra/pseuds/Camelabrakedabra
Summary: Minghao has a certain knack for dance and has a special way of portraying emotion through his dance. He also has a knack for sneaking out, and another for b-boying. Which is fine, of course, until each act of rebellion starts to dig his grave for him.





	1. Cypher

What they were doing wasn't exactly legal and it was most certainly frowned upon in most societies, but Minghao didn't really care at all, if he was being completely honest about it.

He was a performing arts student at university, and focused on dance in particular. His choreography was decent, but his staging was above that of everyone else on his course. He had a certain knack for turning every dance into a show that was both captivating and mesmerising, and he knew that every time he took the stage, all eyes would be on his performance. He was damn _perfect_ when it came to his dances, and he knew it.

As much as his coaches wanted to try to critique his work, it was increasingly difficult for them to do so as time went on. No two performances were the same. His form when he danced was sometimes perfect, with precision behind every single movement, but sometimes it was free and flowing and he didn't care for getting everything spot on. It completely depended on the piece that he was performing, and he knew how to show off his emotions with every move. He could tell a story with his body and portray a hundred different characters on the stage, and as much as it annoyed the hell out of the coaches, who had seen him improving as time went on but in a way that was less dramatic in comparison to his peers, Minghao was quite frankly the best student they had on their course.

That was why he decided to do his own thing every so often. On top of his knack for dance and performance, Minghao also had an unnerving ability to sneak out of the university with absolutely no problems at all. Rooms being checked by their seniors? He would make a person-shaped bulge in his bed sheets so that they would think he was asleep. Staff in the lobby to prevent people from leaving after curfew? He would find a way out of one of the windows and scale the side of the building. Security doing patrols outside when he wanted to leave? He had a secret route by the laundry room and could escape that way.

Granted, he'd never actually been caught before. His seniors knew that he escaped. His friends knew that he escaped. His teachers knew that he escaped. Yet, there was no proof of it; nothing on the security cameras, no sightings that could confirm his whereabouts. He could have quite easily spent four hours over in the bathroom for all they knew, or he could have been training instead. No one could prove or disprove anything, so they had absolutely no case to question him on.

That was where his guilty pleasure came in. As much as he was a great student and he always made his dance look amazing, he was also into the freedom of b-boy dancing.

It didn't really require him to think about choreography or telling a story or making sure that he was in perfect time. Of course, timing helped to an extent, but it was more about the freedom to let himself go. There were no grades or assessments as such, although he would take part in a competition here and there with the rest of his group. There were five of them in total whilst he was in Korea; whilst he was living in China, he had manged to get a group of almost thirty, but it was a lot harder when he was studying in a different country. For starters, very few boys actually seemed to be interested in b-boying when he spoke to them about it in a subtle attempt at getting them to join in with him, and their typical style was very... Korean. It had meant grabbing whoever he could - one more Chinese boy, two Thai boys and a Korean - and trying to train them to be half decent.

They were beginners when he first found them, but they actually improved incredibly fast. Over their first year, one of them managed to place in a relatively large intermediate-level competition. It was one that was set up by the various groups in the city in order to help the amateur b-boys improve their skills, so it didn't really add to their groups' reputation too much, but it was enough to show that one guy's potential. Minghao had swelled with pride when he found out about it and made sure to make the guy feel amazing, even though he hadn't quite snatched the first prize, and from that point on the group began to put in special effort in hopes of improving even further. It meant that each of them had to sneak out late at night in order to practice in a private place, but at the same time, it was worth it if they were going to become the best b-boy team in Seoul. That was the ultimate aim, and Minghao made sure to push the group in that direction.

It was only in their second year that that dream started to become more of a reality, though.

Minghao was reluctant to call them the best team in Seoul, but they were doing incredibly well. In one of their most recent competitions, each person in the team managed to win their battles. The cyphers that they had battled in were relatively small, but a few days later they had found videos of the battles online, which had definitely given their reputation a huge boost. On top of that, they performed as a group in a local competition with assigned judges, just to test their skills aside from the backstreet and underground battles that they occasionally attended, and had somehow managed to get second place out of twelve groups.

It was great, as far as Minghao was concerned. It was almost like getting back to his original crew back in his hometown, and he was relieved that he and the boys he worked with were all equally as passionate about doing their best. As a result, he decided to follow the competitions up with something that wasn't all that legal, in hopes that it would make everyone see how much he appreciated them being there with him.

They were all adults but only two were twenty years old, which meant that getting into a club or bar wasn't going to be possible unless they had fake IDs. Whilst Minghao wasn't all that fond of getting fake IDs in order to drink alcohol, he had made a promise to give everyone a night to remember so he was certainly going to deliver. After all, he couldn't have his boys left disappointed after they had done so well to get where they were. He ended up going through a friend of a friend to get highly realistic ID cards, and then agreed to meet the group at their usual time in order to go there together.

It worked a lot better than he had expected, if he was honest. As much as some members of the group were concerned that they were going to get caught and end up being prosecuted for trying to get into the club, there was no question at all from the security staff and they managed to get in with no problem at all. Once they were inside and well away from earshot of the staff, they had erupted into a fit of nervous laughs as they quietly exchanged comments about how they had been worried about being stopped at the door, before going straight to the bar in order to get their drinks.

Minghao might not have been the eldest in the group but he was the one who formed the group, so everyone who was there was his responsibility. If they were going to drink alcohol, they were going to do so safely, so he decided to give them a rundown of what they were allowed to drink and what was off-limits. It had to be subtle enough for them to not end up drunk in class the following day, but they were obviously allowed to have fun, since it was supposed to be their time to relax. He wasn't taking responsibility if they got sick, but obviously he wasn't going to leave them there if it made them ill, either. It was their responsibility, but he was still there to offer support and help if anyone needed it. He just hoped that they wouldn't need it and he could trust everyone to make good decisions and be responsible for their own well-being.

On the other hand, Minghao knew his own limits were high and knew that he could start out with soju and not get too drunk. He took a few shots until he could feel the stress of the day leaving his body. His stress wasn't too high today, but he did have quite a lot of dances to practice, which irritated him as he was struggling to perfect them all as easily as he usually did. There was something about the mix of pressure and multiple dances to practice that was too much for him, so he was glad to have that sort of outlet.

He was probably around six shots in when he felt one of the older boys nudge against him with an elbow. "Hey, Minghao. That guy over there looks a bit like the new coach, doesn't he?" Of course, Minghao was fully aware of the point that he was only pointing out because he knew that his junior had a bit of a thing for the new coach. He'd only been introduced to them briefly for one dance session and Minghao had gone out of his way to make sure that his group impressed the guy, even more than he usually would during a practice. His seniors had teased him afterwards, having very quickly caught on to why he was acting in such a manner in front of a stranger, and naturally it had to come up on this sort of occasion too.

Although, when he looked over, he was surprised to see that the man did have a strong resemblance towards the teacher. Minghao didn't know whether it was the flashing lights or the alcohol starting to take effect, but he was suddenly very interested. From what he could gather, the coach was particularly uptight around the group rules and so the chances of him being in a night club were incredibly slim, and Minghao figured that even if he wouldn't be able to start something with his actual teacher, there was no harm in starting something with a guy who looked similar to him. It could make a funny story to tell him in the future, after all.

His friends had been quick to encourage him to make a move. He was there to have fun with them, but it didn't mean that they weren't all going to try to get hook-ups by the end of the night. They were certain from the way that the guy seemed to reject any girl who approached him that Minghao would have a chance, and the alcohol had thankfully given him the confidence to go over.

"Hey, I... How are you?" The guy's head snapped around towards him, and he looked him up and down.  
"I'm sorry, but have we met before?"  
"Maybe in my dreams," Minghao announced, which earned a groan and eye roll from the guy.  
"That was the worst line I've heard all night, but I suppose that earns you some points."  
"Enough points for a dance?"

He was just going to finish his drink and then give Minghao a moment of his time, since he asked so nicely. Just one dance, though; he was there to drink alcohol primarily. Minghao tried to ask why, but the guy refused to give him an answer. He was young and impressionable and the reason wasn't good, so he didn't want to be a bad influence. It was probably a coping mechanism rather than a celebration then, Minghao figured, but he wasn't prepared to push it any more. Besides, the guy downed his drink for him before allowing himself to be dragged away from the bar.

Of course, Minghao decided to bring his dance student out to play by gradually seducing the guy with his body. It wasn't anything dramatic but he could tell from the guy's body language that he was rather interested too, and it was something that he was certainly going to work on. If his friends were planning on picking up dates from the club, he was going to try and get this guy to romance him as well. Yet, he hadn't quite expected that the guy would be dancing with him in such a sophisticated manner; it was free form but not awkward or repetitive, as if he was into dance as much as Minghao was.

"Do you like dancing?" he asked loudly, as if it wasn't at all obvious, and the guy gave a smile.  
"I actually just graduated from a dance academy. Yourself?"  
"I'm... I'm a b-boy mostly, but I do modern dance too," Minghao told him. For a moment he considered telling the guy that he was studying dance, but then again, it might have been a red flag. He was certainly younger than the guy was expecting, and he didn't want to make it awkward by revealing his student status.

Leaving that detail out was probably the best idea of his life. The guy was radiating an aura that told him that things were going to progress further, and it ended up taking all of five minutes before they ended up kissing. It wasn't something that Minghao had planned, but he knew chemistry when it was happening and he was quick to snatch up the opportunity whilst he was intoxicated enough to not care. His senior didn't seem to be all that bothered by how forward it was either; he ended up pulling Minghao close to himself and kissing him with a passion that Minghao was sure could only come from genuine attraction. His hands stayed respectfully high on Minghao's back, even when the younger boy moved his hands to grip his face, and in the end it only broke apart when they were bumped particularly hard by people who were trying to get past them.

Minghao was exhilarated. He could feel his heart starting to race in his chest as they began to dance closer to each other things time. It was close enough for their breath to mingle between them; the scents of whatever spirits and various colognes mixing in the space between them the closer they moved in the other's personal bubble. They were flirting more than Minghao had done with any other person in the past, but he was really enjoying it. He'd clicked with a stranger and it had resulted in several cheeky pecks on top of that one proper kiss that they'd shared. Considering that they didn't even know each other, Minghao felt strangely comfortable with getting close and personal, as if it wasn't the first time that they were meeting; he had a feeling that it came from the guy's similarities with the coach, but for now he would just say that it was a result of the alcohol.

With every passing minute, they were getting closer and closer. It wasn't usually Minghao's thing to get so intimate with a complete stranger, but for some reason this felt completely different. He didn't cringe when their hands brushed, and he had a genuine sense that there were romantic sparks flying between them. They maintained eye contact the entire time, as if they were the only people in the world, and it didn't even feel awkward to do so. By that point, he was completely captivated; if the guy asked him to go home with him to make out on his sofa, he would be leaving with him without giving it a moment's thought. Heck, if the guy asked him to meet his parents he probably wouldn't reject either.

As much as the guy insisted that they were only going to have one dance, they ended up going for a lot more than that. Minghao guessed that it had been around ten songs straight before the guy finally motioned to say that he needed to move to the edge for a moment, and naturally the younger boy followed him straight over there without hesitation.

"It's really hot and I need a breather, so would you like to join me outside for a while? We can get to know each other a bit better that way."

Minghao could feel the excitement rising in his chest. It was actually really starting to get into the idea of spending more time with the guy. That sense of familiarity was certainly helping when it came to that sort of thing; he didn't feel afraid to go with a stranger who shared his interests, and so he gave a nod. "I have to go and tell my friends that we're going out, though," he pointed out, "Wait right here and I'll be back in two minutes."

He had never moved so fast in his life. His friends were on the other side of the club, so he wormed his way through the crowds until he managed to get to them, and he immediately broke out into a grin. "The guy you recommended asked me to go outside with him for a while," he announced, although the surprise on his friends' faces was telling him that they weren't half as excited for him as he'd expected.  
"Are you sure that that's a good idea, Minghao? Just because he looks like the new dance coach doesn't mean that he's safe to go off with. What if he tries to pull moves on you? You only met him about forty minutes ago."  
"He won't," Minghao snapped, "Besides, I can defend myself."

They still seemed unsure, but when it became clear that he wasn't going to back down, they simply informed him that they wanted him to check in with them as soon as they were back inside. As much as it annoyed him, Minghao agreed and made his way back to the guy in a grump, although the emotions quickly melted away when he got close enough and saw the guy scanning the crowd for him.

As soon as they were close enough, the guy grabbed for his hand and started to lead him through the crowds. His fingers felt soft to the touch, Minghao found, and it was wonderful to be holding them as he was. It only served to comfort him more as they moved from the busy room out into the cool night air, but that bit of comfort abruptly came to an end as he realised his mistake.

This guy didn't just _look _like the new dance coach. As Minghao caught a glimpse of the side of his face under the lights of the street, the realisation hit him hard. In seconds he'd sobered up and was left staring at him with a feeling of complete and utter disbelief in the pit of his stomach.__

__"Teacher?" he whispered, barely finding it in him to let the words pass his lips. He could see the hairs on the back of his coach's neck stand on end as he slowly turned to face him in horror. His eyes were swimming with a fear that Minghao had never seen on a person before, and honestly he was worried that his coach was going to drop dead from shock right there on the spot. They stared at each other for a solid minute, with neither particularly knowing what to say, until finally the coach dropped his hand and made a dash in the opposite direction, leaving Minghao stood awkwardly on the side of the road._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here it is!! It's taken about three centuries to get to this one, since I didn't want to overload with too many fics at once, but since I finished one and the others in progress are almost finished, I thought I'd get started.
> 
> I'd just like to point out that this is more like a coach/student relationship, so it's not as taboo as a high school student and teacher, but still not something that is really acceptable, and is absolutely in Minghao's perspective. This means that sometimes things may be interpreted in the way of a teenager who is only just becoming an adult, and sometimes it can be a bit skewed or may have an obvious tunnel vision. Sometimes young adults make things more dramatic than they need to be or they pine over things that are silly to overthink, and this might end up coming up at some point in the fic. I know that when I was eighteen or nineteen, I certainly believed that things were unfair when it was unrealistic to expect such things, but it's something that as an adult, you learn to consider better. Some people might have that down straight away, but it's not necessarily going to be the case for little Minghao.
> 
> Anyway, hopefully it'll end up playing out as I'm hoping and it'll all be handled sensitively so that it's an enjoyable but relatively realistic fic (aside from the fact that the vast majority of teachers wouldn't dare to get involved with anyone who could be young enough to be one of their students).
> 
> Thank you for reading!! <3


	2. Competition

It was only natural that everything grew to be awkward when Minghao went to university the next morning. He could feel the tension in the air, especially when it was announced that the coach was due to be taking over some of the classes from that point onwards. He was still new, their main coach told them, so they needed to treat him with a lot of respect and be kind to him, but Minghao didn't really know how he was going to do that when he could barely look at the guy.

There was no way to avoid it, really.

Minghao could tell that the coach was uncomfortable. He didn't know whether to simply look at the class and avoid him, avoid looking at the class altogether or bore holes into the side of Minghao's head. If Minghao wasn't so uncomfortable about the entire situation too, he probably would have found it hilarious how a teacher could be nervous about something so stupid, but alas it was something that he couldn't even try to joke about. Technically the coach could be fired on the spot for getting intimate with a student and Minghao could be kicked straight out of the university for underage drinking and sneaking out after hours. It was in his best interest, as a result, to avoid making a big deal out of it and simply pretending that it didn't happen. If both of them stayed quiet about it, there would be no evidence of it even happening, so they would both be safe.

It had been awful trying to come up with an excuse when his friends asked about it, but Minghao figured that it was probably the worst idea ever to let them know what happened. As much as he knew that he could trust them in some ways, he still didn't know the extent of it just yet. They had all known each other for a while, but when they had so much work for their various university classes and then b-boying practice on the side, they didn't really get to know each other as people as such. The result was a flash excuse in the heat of the moment about how he and the guy had realised that they had a very significant age gap and so they decided not to make anything of what happened between them. Instead, they simply parted as unlikely friends and were likely to never meet again in their lives.

If Minghao was being completely honest, he was more embarrassed than anything over the entire situation. When it was pointed out that the guy looked like the coach he had a crush on, he was absolutely certain that it wasn't anything. He didn't know the coach well enough to be able to tell him apart from anyone else who looked vaguely similar under moving lights, but then again he knew that hitting on someone who was significantly older than him when he was still technically underage was a bad decision. As sweet as the guy from the club had been to him, he could have quite easily been someone who was out to manipulate him, and Minghao wouldn't have been able to do anything about it. He was just lucky that the guy did turn out to be a genuine person, and although it had all been incredibly messy and awkward, Minghao was somewhat thankful for the fact that his coach did run when he saw him, rather than continuing to flirt and making things worse as a result.

So instead of telling them, he played it off as if it was an unfortunate mistake that was harmless but disappointing. It gave him some time to get his mind off it by dancing with his friends, and then he really had the chance to think it through when he got back to his dorm room at around two in the morning.

That was when it hit hard. Minghao had been smacked in the face by an undying anxiety that left him unable to sleep. Suddenly everything was spinning around in his head and he didn't know what to do with himself, and he was absolutely certain that it would crash and burn by the time he got to classes in the morning. If the coach was asked about it, he wouldn't exactly be allowed to deny it. Minghao was certain that there would be something in his contract to say that he wouldn't be able to lie to protect a student, and there was likely to be something about him having to report any cases of breaking the rules, too. He was certain that he would get to class and be faced with an immediate punishment, and he was left sitting awake all night considering whether he wanted to throw the coach under the bus if he was punished for his actions.

The plus side of getting no sleep, though, was figuring out his game plan on the off-chance that he would need to use it. It was something that he decidedly couldn't do in the heat of the moment, and so he made sure to come up with different methods in case one fell through or different circumstances required different responses for him in order to reduce the blow of the trouble he'd be in. Even if it meant kicking himself and getting punished a second time, he would confess that he and the coach had kissed each other and had probably almost hooked up if he ended up being punished. Sure, it wouldn't stop the punishment from happening altogether, but it would probably get the coach out of his way for a while. Less awkwardness, less worry.

But of course, it was all different when he got to class. There was no punishment and the coach's eyes wandered around the room as he tried to figure out which of the three options he should choose. For a while, he would allow his eyes to drift over the students, the floor, the walls, but then he would make eye contact with Minghao for a fraction of a second and look as if he was a rabbit caught in headlights. He would be frozen on the spot, trying to decide whether he should smile and play it off or just look away and make it obvious that he was incredibly disappointed in his actions. He didn't know whether to be a coach or himself and it was obviously leaving him feeling conflicted.

The class just went on as if everything was normal, other than the fact that Minghao was quieter than usual. He swore that he was just having an off day since he didn't sleep well enough the night before, but there was a lot of concern for him around his group. Minghao never had off days. Even if he didn't sleep well, he would still be perky and happy and would get on with it. They knew that something was up, but he couldn't bring himself to tell them any of the details. Even a simple comment about him sneaking out or his excessive anxiety wasn't really going to work in this sort of situation, so he simply forced a smile and promised his seniors that he would try harder the following day.

He was lucky that the coach stayed away for the most part, though. He made an active effort to be on the opposite side of the room to Minghao for most of the session, but whenever it became obvious that he was avoiding their group, he would drop in very briefly, standing as far away as possible, before making a comment about how he knew they were working hard so he didn't want to disturb them. They were a good group, he said, so he didn't feel the need to keep checking on their progress. Minghao knew that it was mostly to give himself some peace of mind about not seeming too distant and awkward around them, but as much as he thought that it was a bit weird, he was also incredibly thankful that the coach wasn't loitering around them the entire time.

It continued in that manner until lunch break started. Minghao knew from the look in the coach's eyes that he wanted him to stay behind to discuss what had happened between them, so he didn't even try to escape. There was no point; if the coach was going to be in every one of his classes, he would just be pushing it back more and more, and he didn't know whether his nerves could deal with that constant pressure. The other students filed out of the room quickly, leaving them stood face to face with each other in silence, before the coach quietly motioned for them to go into the office.

They sat without any words, and for a moment, Minghao couldn't bring himself to even look at his coach. His eyes were locked on his hands in his lap for as long as possible until it became apparent that the coach wasn't jumping to speak first. At that point he let his eyes start to drift upwards towards the coach's face, in hopes that it would seem as if he was somewhat confident in what he was about to say. Of course, his heart was thudding hard in his chest and he could barely breathe nevermind speak, but it was something that he was going to try to fake as much as possible.

"Coach--"  
"Is it appropriate for me to tell you that I'd rather not have such formality when we're talking like this, Minghao?" the coach interrupted in Mandarin, "I want to talk about this as Junhui and Minghao. Not as coach and student."  
For a moment Minghao was caught off guard and didn't know what to do with himself. He had expected that he would have been scolded, but instead, he was being faced with a proposal for a more personal form of address. He stared at the coach - Junhui - for a few seconds before opening his mouth to speak again.  
"Are you trying to suggest something there, c-- Junhui?"

Seemingly, that was the moment where he realised how it must have been interpreted. Minghao watched as Junhui's entire body tensed and he took in a very sharp breath. He stared in complete silence for a moment as he tried to figure out what he could possibly respond with but then settled for a sigh and awkward laugh to start his explanation out with. "I'm just trying to show you that I'm not angry and I'm not going to get you into trouble over what happened. I don't want to be formal with you when I'm trying to show you that there's no punishment involved."  
"No punishment for sneaking out or no punishment for kissing you back?"

He knew right away that he'd stepped over the line and he could see the sudden look of irritation in Junhui's expression. It was something that had just slipped out, but it wasn't really Minghao's thing to apologise for something that had genuinely been on his mind, even if it did cause negative feelings from Junhui as a result. They stared into each other's eyes for longer than necessary, with neither even blinking, and then finally moved a hand to rub his forehead.

"Minghao, you have to understand that what happened between us was a mistake."  
"Do you not think I know that already? I spent hours researching it and you're not really supposed to kiss me until I haven't been your student for at least two years. That means that you would have to wait for another four years until you're allowed to do that."  
Junhui winced as he heard the word 'kiss' leave the student's mouth. It was very obvious, and suddenly Minghao was considering whether or not he wanted to tease him over it; he knew that it was wrong to bring it up again and again, but at the same time he'd never seen a reaction like that over something as simple as a little word.

"But it's not going to happen, even after you graduate," he continued, making sure to put on a firm voice. "The problem here is that when you're out for the night, you can have a very sudden and temporary attraction to an individual, but when you put that night into context, your feelings completely change. And I suppose we both have that sort of thing happening now, don't we?"

That was something that Minghao wasn't quite sure about, now that he thought about it. He had spent all of his time since that incident trying to figure out a way to drag them both down if it came to it, but he hadn't really thought too much about his feelings. Admittedly, they weren't quite gone as such. It wasn't exactly a moment of attraction to a stranger in a club for him; he had very quickly developed a bit of a crush on his coach back when they were first introduced, completely separate from the context of the alcohol-fueled night out, and he had just so happened to have assumed that the stranger he was attracted to couldn't possibly be his teacher. It didn't make sense for him to be in that context, but the attraction to Junhui as the coach and the guy at the club were completely separate things. Whilst one part of the attraction might have been eliminated after what went down, there was still a little piece of him that still found Junhui incredibly handsome. It wasn't as simple as realising that he'd kissed someone he wasn't supposed to and suddenly becoming repulsed.

Instead, he decided to throw a question back, rather than giving the answer that he was expected to give. "Did you not recognise me, Junhui? I noticed that you looked rather similar to my coach, but I'm sure you should've realised and stopped if you thought for even a second that you were getting romantic with one of your students." His words were just as firm as Junhui's, as if he was daring the coach to explain himself. There was a moment of silence in which Junhui seemed to be reconsidering absolutely everything he'd said up until that point, but then eventually he simply gave a sigh and a look of disappointment.  
"If you thought I looked similar to your coach, why did you go ahead with everything then?"

Minghao should have expected it, but instead he was left opening and closing his mouth like a fish for a few seconds. He didn't know what to do with himself in the moment and had to take time to think of the appropriate response, but by that point Junhui knew that there wasn't really a good answer about to come from him. "I... well, I-I didn't think that my teacher would be in a club on a school night!" he exclaimed, but the damage was done and Junhui was fighting back a smirk.  
"And I didn't expect an underage student to be in a club. I think an adult going to a club is more reasonable than a minor, Minghao."

He didn't know what to do with himself anymore other than dip his head slightly with respect. He wasn't prepared to apologise, but he did need Junhui to know that he didn't intend to be disrespectful with his comment. That part of the conversation was promptly dropped, as if it had never occurred in the first place, and then Junhui simply moved back to the original topic at hand.  
"As you're probably already expecting, I'd rather not quit my job because of a slip up like this. We didn't see each other's faces at the time of the incident, and we weren't side by side the entire night, so technically we can just say that it didn't actually happen. That is, of course, unless you're really uncomfortable with the thought of having me as your coach still."

Minghao shook his head and let his eyes drift back down to his lap again. "I'm not uncomfortable and I don't want you to lose your job over this," he admitted quietly, "I'd prefer it if you didn't give me the cold shoulder in class, though. It's awkward and I'm certain that someone will catch on soon enough."  
"Of course. I didn't intend for it to come across in that way, but I needed to discuss it with you before I started getting too close to you."

That was understandable, Minghao decided. He was rather impressed by how professional his coach was being, considering that they had kissed so passionately in the club, but he was relieved at the same time. It meant that he didn't need to feel anxious about it coming back up to kick him in the future, and there was no need to feel worried about going back to class after lunch either. They ended up parting soon after so that they could both go to get something to eat before afternoon classes, although as soon as Minghao sat down with his meal he found that he didn't particularly want to eat it anymore.

Of course, he ended up forcing himself to eat it, since he was never one to waste food or skip a meal, but he didn't enjoy it at all. It wasn't even that the food tasted bad; in fact, it was one of the most delicious meals he'd had in a long time. He couldn't pinpoint what was bothering him, though, and so simply ended up trying to brush it off for the rest of the day so that he could get back to his work. His off-day continued through the second half of the day and remained even when he was left alone to complete independent practice away from the rest of his peers. Minghao still didn't feel too great when it came to dinner time, and it was at that point that he decided to take some time away to think about everything that had come up.

It had only started to hit him after the conversation with Junhui. Whilst he had been bothered before that, it had an obvious cause; things were awkward between him and the person who was running his lesson, so he was left feeling on edge and anxious. Yet, they had their conversation, the air was cleared between them, and yet Minghao was still feeling uncomfortable. It wasn't even as if he was uncomfortable with Junhui. Minghao would have made sure to let the coach know if that was the case so that something could be sorted. After all, he wasn't prepared to deal with someone who made him uncomfortable for more than a year at most if he could help it, and he certainly had more than a year left of his degree. The chances of Junhui leaving his new job in that time on his own accord was incredibly unlikely, and so Minghao had no problem with telling him if that was the case.

This was different, though. He had a dull feeling in the pit of his gut and his head felt fuzzy. It took every bit of strength he had to drag himself to his bedroom, where he flopped face first onto his bed and laid there for a moment. To start with, Minghao felt nothing. His emotions were completely numb for whatever reason, and he was left to just think over absolutely everything that had happened since he entered the office with Junhui. Then the feelings hit him all at once, and he let them all out at once in a frustrated outburst; his face pressed firmer against the pillow and he screamed until his lungs burnt, not even caring if anyone heard him doing so.

He had nothing to frustrated about, yet he had a strange sensation that the feeling had its own right to be there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've gotten into this now and I'm sort of only half enjoying writing it but I've come this far and have to finish it haha
> 
> Honestly I'm not sure what it is with JunHao fics but I think about them a lot and then struggle to get them into words and I'm absolutely praying that the M rated JunHao one for the series is a lot easier to write because it's b o t h e r i n g me a lot
> 
> Anyhoo I guess this one is a pretty low-key one in the series but hopefully it's still enjoyable really!!
> 
> Thank you for reading!! <3


	3. Exhibition

It was only after they had spoken about it that Minghao's body decided to take the matter into its own hands.

Minghao hated himself when it started. It wasn't even funny; he'd gone to bed that night feeling okay about the situation, but by the time he woke up, everything had changed. He had had a dream in which they had met in the club and known that they were Minghao and Junhui, rather than two complete strangers. They had still danced and kissed and when it got to the point where they went to go home, Junhui hadn't been bothered by the fact that he was his coach. No one was perfect, he told him, and so he could deal with the fact that he'd just fallen hopelessly in love with one of his students. It was just a relationship that they would have to hide from the world.

The timeline of the dream had been weird. It followed the typical timeline of their first romantic experience together but was also suited to fit the idealised romance in his head. Junhui had still left him and Minghao went back in to talk to his friends, but then Junhui was back at his side as he began to walk home and they chatted about things on their way to the dorm. Junhui told him that he would be going to his own dorm in case the cameras caught him sneaking into a student's bedroom but would then make his way to Minghao's room from there, but when Minghao managed to make it back into his bedroom, Junhui was already waiting on the bed for him. It had resulted in more kisses, in which Minghao had the chance to taste Junhui's tongue, but as soon as Minghao dared to turn up the heat by slipping his hand up Junhui's shirt, it had resulted in the coach pulling away from the kiss to tell him to watch where he put his fingers. It was so painfully _Junhui_ that Minghao found himself believing that the dream was real for a while once he woke up.

Then it hit him how it couldn't have possibly been real. The truth of the exchange hit him and Minghao found himself drowning in second-hand embarrassment over how his mind had completely changed the context of the situation that he'd been faced with Junhui certainly hadn't been okay with him being his student, and Minghao didn't feel anything for his coach. There was no passionate kisses against freshly changed bedsheets or gazing into his eyes lovingly as they whispered sweet words of undying affection to each other, and Junhui certainly hadn't slept in his bed until the early hours of the morning, when he promptly pressed a few kisses to his student's cheeks and nose before taking his leave.

Yet, Minghao still had a strange feeling in the pit of his gut, as if it had genuinely happened. His mind was convinced that they were both mutually attracted to each other, despite the odds that were thrown at them as a result of the fact that they were coach and student. He went to class that morning feeling completely numb, but his heart leapt into action as soon as he saw Junhui standing there in the dance studio. Suddenly he could feel the excitement building right up to his throat and an undying urge to run forward to hug him and confess that he was in desperate need of affection.

It was a feeling that Minghao had never felt before. Even his most realistic dreams were easily brushed to the side so that he would gradually come to accept that they were real, but instead, he'd been hit with the reality that that wasn't necessarily going to happen this time around. It wasn't something that could just be thrown to one side and ignored. Minghao knew that his feelings were misplaced from somewhere and it was the worst thing imaginable to be faced with that situation where he couldn't shake it. He knew right from the start that at that rate, he would be struggling to get on with his classwork whilst Junhui was around.

Of course, the coach caught onto it relatively quickly. Minghao's mannerisms were reflecting those from the previous day when everything was awkward between them, but Junhui didn't understand what was wrong. It was completely understandable, Minghao decided, since his coach was certain that everything had been sorted between them. He was obviously going to be a bit on edge when he realised that Minghao was still acting in the same way around him. It wasn't even like he'd been like that the first time they ever met, so he couldn't even pass it off as being the student's usual studio composure. Minghao was generally a confident person, so it just didn't match his personality whatsoever to be acting like that.

The worst part about it was that Minghao was aware that he wasn't acting naturally. He knew that he was tiptoeing around Junhui again, that he wasn't doing his best in the practice room, and that he generally seemed to be distracted. He tried to keep his eyes away from his coach, but it was getting to be more and more difficult to do so as time went on. He felt as if Junhui's eyes were constantly on him, but sure enough, every time that Junhui felt him looking over, he would look up too. It would lead to awkward eye contact and only served to enforce the feeling that he was being looked at. In fact, the harder that Minghao tried to stop all of those ridiculous behaviours from coming to the surface, the worse they were becoming. His willpower in those sorts of situations was very weak, and even when he did manage to put a curb on his habits, another would end up coming up instead.

On top of everything, it was quite frankly exhausting that he would have to constantly try to monitor himself and work on his dances too. It was something that was really affecting the quality of his performance on that particular day. His movements were growing sloppy, which his main coach seemed to be rather surprised about when he went into the studio to check on everyone's progress, but as much as he tried to improve based on the feedback he was given, it was proving to be completely fruitless. In the end, Junhui wandered over to him and asked to have a word whilst the rest of the class were busy working, and Minghao just followed him shamefully into the hallway without another word.

He could feel his legs starting to lock with every step until they were just outside of the room, and in that moment he knew full well that he would be struggling to get his words out. Junhui seemed to be more concerned than anything, though, and simply leaned down slightly so that he could look into Minghao's eyes properly. "Be completely honest with me, please. Are you having problems with me being your coach today? I know you said that it wasn't an issue yesterday, but I completely understand that things can change. It's always something that we can accommodate for, Minghao, just as long as you let me know."

Just as expected, he felt that opening his mouth to speak was a struggle as soon as an answer was required from him. He sat there for a moment, not quite knowing how to reply, until Junhui finally asked him a question that didn't require a verbal answer. "Am I directly affecting your education?" Minghao hesitated for a moment before giving the slightest of nods, but he made sure that his eyes stayed on the floor as he did so. "Do you want me to resign from my position so that I stop affecting you?" This time, he shook his head in response, but without a second of hesitation. He didn't want it to seem as if he wasn't sure about his answer; as much as it was uncomfortable for him to think of Junhui in this sort of manner, he didn't want to cause problems in his coach's career because of some stupid dream that didn't even mean anything significant.

Junhui still seemed to be concerned about it, despite Minghao's response. "I think we need to have a chat after class, if that's okay. Will you stay for five minutes after class so that we can talk about it?" Minghao wasn't all too fond of the idea, but he still gave a very slow nod. He figured that even if it didn't help to get it off his chest, it was some time alone with Junhui that might help him to ground his thoughts. If Junhui seemed to be an asshole or showed that he really wasn't interested in the slightest, perhaps Minghao would be able to get over him easier. There would be no need to pine over him if it was made incredibly clear that his teacher didn't have any feelings for him whatsoever, and so he guessed that it was the best possible option that he could choose from at the moment.

So he got back to work. He tried his best to keep the meeting off of his mind, having figured that it would only make his day's work that little bit more appalling, and he simply kept to himself in order to get on with his task. All his group knew was that he was struggling to visualise his part and wanted to make it his best work in order to show that he was constantly improving, and so they gave him permission to keep to himself for a while. Minghao immediately tried to bump up the quality of that particular part of the dance so that it was as complex as possible, in hopes that it would distract him away from everything, and luckily it seemed to work rather well. Of course, it wasn't necessarily going to be added to the dance when it was very clearly on a different level to the rest of the dance, but he figured that he would be able to downgrade it a lot easier than he would be able to upgrade it in the end.

Finally, lunch came around. As always, the rest of the group piled out of the dance studio to get their lunch straight away. Dancing was incredibly hungry work, so it was completely justified. Usually Minghao would be the first out of the door, since he was always big on the idea that regular meal slots were key for health, but instead he made his way straight over to the office so that he could wait for Junhui to get there without anyone bothering him for staying in the studio. It only took a few minutes for his coach to join him, and then they promptly entered the room together.

For a moment, there was complete silence between them. Both Junhui and Minghao seemed to be anticipating the other to speak, but when the silence continued to loom over them, Junhui double checked that the door was closed properly before awkwardly clearing his throat. "So, are you ready to talk about what's bothering you?"

That was when Minghao exploded. Every emotion that he'd felt suddenly burst out of him with such speed that he could barely even attempt to hold it all back again. It was a side to him that he'd never really shown anyone before, but it was an important part nonetheless. It was a side of innocence, to a degree; a side of hurting and heartache and a desperate need for understanding. Minghao needed Junhui to understand every single emotion that had hit him with full force over the space of just three days. He needed him to feel the pain and embarrassment and stress and frustration and _infatuation_.

When he mentioned the infatuation, he watched Junhui's expression become unreadable. It was just as he'd expected; his coach certainly wasn't fond of the idea that his student was still interested in him in a romantic way, but thankfully he wasn't too hard on him for it. He had the understanding and patience of a teacher now that he was seeing the raw emotion burning Minghao's heart as he let the words spill out into the air in front of him. He wasn't angry when Minghao voiced his confusion and fear over the dream that he'd had, and he even made sure to give the student the space to vent the timeline of his dream without any judgement over it. It was a particular relief when Minghao managed to go into the details without even seeing a hint of irritation in his coach's expression.

Once it had all come out, the silence took over again. This time, though, it wasn't half as awkward; it was clear that Junhui was thinking about the solutions to the problem, and Minghao was just relieved to get it all off his chest. There was no longer any horrible feeling that was threatening to take over his body whenever they made eye contact, and he didn't feel uncomfortable over the dream anymore. Of course, it wasn't enough to stop it from feeling so realistic, but Minghao was no longer afraid of that anymore. No, he was feeling a lot more relaxed, as if a weight had been taken off his shoulders as soon as the words passed his lips. The lack of judgement had left him in a place that was almost euphoric; now that it was aired, he had full trust that Junhui would come up with the best possible solution to his problem.

It wasn't quite as easy as he'd hoped, admittedly, but Junhui did offer to support him with it all. Not quite a solution, but it was something that was surely going to make his life easier in the long run.  
"Is there any way that I can help you more? Perhaps being able to convince the unconscious part of your mind that we won't work as a couple?" he asked after a while. It was clear that he was being genuine too, which Minghao appreciated a lot.

"Unless you're okay with physical contact, I don't think that's quite possible," Minghao admitted, hoping that it would come across as a joke. That was how he'd intended it to come across, after all. Instead, though, Junhui seemed to genuinely consider it for a moment. Perhaps he thought that Minghao was talking about hugs or holding hands; some little form of contact that would go to show him that though his feelings weren't "wrong" as such, they simply wouldn't be acceptable in his learning environment.   
"Perhaps you can show me what you mean. We might be able to work something out if it'll mean that you're not seeing me in a romantic sense anymore. I don't know if you agree, but it might end up making things easier for you."

Minghao decided to take the plunge. It was his only opportunity to do so and it wouldn't hurt him either way, frankly. He was a strong boy who could probably will himself to stop having feelings for Junhui if everything went wrong. He took a step forward and kissed him gently on the mouth, trying his hardest to ignore the way that Junhui's body tensed underneath his touch. He wasn't moving away, which was a good thing, but then again, he wasn't exactly kissing back either. It felt so right but simultaneously awful. He loved the feeling of Junhui's lips against his own, especially since he had been longing for them for hours. They hadn't kissed whilst sober nor whilst being aware of the other's identity, so it was a completely new experience in comparison, but Minghao instantly felt that their lips slotted together perfectly.

The kiss didn't last long at all and Minghao knew that it hadn't been held for long enough when they finally parted, but he knew that it was the right time to finish it there. The little sparks that had given him goosebumps on the nape of his neck began to fade into the background, and suddenly Minghao was hit by a strange feeling that something was different. It wasn't even necessarily a good different. He didn't know whether he liked it or not, whether he wanted to feel it again or shy from it. Perhaps it was the reality hitting that he and Junhui weren't ever going to have what he'd dreamed of, but eventually he figured that it was just something that he was going to have to embrace.

It was something that he would be _forced_ to embrace, if Junhui's expression was anything to go by. He certainly didn't share the feeling that Minghao had about their lips melting so perfectly together and how sweet it felt to be finally kissing again. He didn't seem as if he wanted Minghao back, and if anything he seemed to be incredibly disappointed in the student for what he did. All Minghao could do was put on a happy face and make up some rubbish about how it had completely changed his feelings.

"Minghao, I--"  
"No, I get it. I tried it out to see whether it would confirm to me that this crazy nightmare I had wasn't a reality, and I was right. It just feels weird when you're my coach and I'm your student. I completely get it." That wasn't what Junhui was expecting, if his expression was anything to go by, but he seemed relieved if anything.  
"So this is the end of this feeling that we should be together, hm?" Minghao gave a quick nod and flashed a smile at his coach, figuring that it was the best time to make a joke. It was probably the worst time, in reality, but he was going to make it anyway.  
"You're welcome to come to my room and kiss me some time in the future, if you want, but only as long as you promise that it doesn't mean anything."

The smirk that he gave was enough to snatch away any hint of tension between them, and instead, Junhui let out a laugh before telling him that he would consider it. They both knew that he wouldn't, of course, but it was the thought that counted the most. There was no longer a need to waste time with each other in the office, they mutually decided, and so Minghao informed his coach that he would be going straight to his room to rest up before his performance the following day. He would be able to do his very best now that the feeling wasn't eating him alive, and so Junhui had to be ready to have his socks blown off completely.

They parted, now that everything was over and done with. Junhui stayed in the office to finish up some work, and Minghao promptly made his way out of the building. He made his way straight back to his dorm without stopping or hesitating whatsoever, but then as soon as he hit the privacy of his bedroom, he completely unwound. He could feel the building pressure in his head that was telling him that he was on the verge of tears, and he had to open his bedroom window in hopes that it would help him to cool down. He moved to lay on his bed face first so that at least if the tears did fall, they would be hidden from the world. It took a few deep breaths to get himself gathered up again, and he honestly hoped more than anything that the aching in his chest would just go away soon enough.

Minghao was still into Junhui, but it was something that his coach never needed to find out. It was his dirty little secret, and he was planning on taking it to the grave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we're at the end of this. I wanted to make a thing where there wasn't necessarily any mutual feelings past the initial spark of romance, since it would be inappropriate for Jun to continue with things once he knew that Minghao was one of his students, but part of me likes to think that there's still a little part of him that would consider Minghao if professionalism and conflict of interest wasn't an issue - after all, Minghao is an adult in this fic, so it's not acceptable as such but not exactly illegal as such.
> 
> This fic feels really weak now, I'm feeling, but I'm 100% going to bump the next JunHao one up quite a lot - it'll be an M rated one and might be a bit longer, but we'll see when we get to it!!
> 
> The next one in this series, though, is Soonyoung/Seokmin and is prison themed!! As a side note, I now have a Tumblr to organise these fics a bit better, with posts about writing, upcoming fics, update times and such!! Feel free to check it out - camelabrakedabra.tumblr.com
> 
> Thank you for reading!! <3


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